July 7, 1920 – December 30, 2002
Redmond veterinarian Max Nicholls earned acclaim among jockeys and farmers throughout Western Washington by setting the legs of racehorses, birthing calves and tending to sick llamas.
But countless smaller creatures also owe their lives to him. As his daughter Nancy, of Loveland, Colo., recalls, he was the savior of many an injured rabbit after a run-in with a dog or cat. Dr. Nicholls died Sunday (Dec. 30) of congestive heart failure at his Woodinville home. He was 81.
He was still working a month ago at his Blue Spruce Clinic in Redmond, which he had run since 1957, though he made his rounds with an oxygen tank strapped to his back.
One of few livestock vets in the region when he set up shop at the Redmond Animal Clinic in 1949, Dr. Nicholls would travel as far as the Canadian border to do everything from pulling horses out of wells to neutering pigs.
Livestock owners in several counties relied on him, thinking nothing of summoning the veterinarian at odd hours for emergencies. “He never turned down anyone,” said his daughter. “He gave out his home number. People called him at all hours of day and night.”
He loved all animals, but his great passion was horses. An expert at diagnosing lameness in racehorses and in setting broken legs, he was for years a regular fixture at the now-defunct Longacres Race Track.
He was also the man to call if your horse fell into a well or ditch. While the orthodox way to extract a horse from such circumstances is to tie a rope around the animal’s ribs and pull, Dr. Nicholls devised a gentler method that involved harnessing it around the neck.
“He never damaged a horse,” his daughter said.
Horses, however, were not always so careful with Dr. Nicholls, who conceded that he’d had more luck healing them than riding them. Once, in 1964, a horse he’d just fallen off of stepped on him and crushed his pelvis.
He also once pulled a tooth from a circus tiger.
A native of Cle Elum, Kittitas County, Dr. Nicholls put himself through Washington State University on a football scholarship after his parents, who wanted him to become a coal miner, refused to help with college bills. Coal mining was the principal occupation in the region at that time, and his father was president of the United Coal Miners of Washington, a labor union.
Dr. Nicholls switched to boxing after injuring his back in a coal-truck accident while helping out his family.
But aside from his early sports experience, he had few hobbies besides animals. Even as a child, he saved his pennies up to buy chickens, dogs and other pets.
Dr. Nicholls is also survived by his wife, Mary, another daughter, Penny, of Woodinville, son Chris of Monroe, and four grandchildren.
Contributions in Dr. Nicholls’ name may be made to the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 647010, Pullman, WA, 99164.